Elks Club Evacuated As Military Device Washes Ashore

(KHNL) - Some tense moments in Waikiki Wednesday morning, as a mysterious military device washes ashore. A hazardous materials team rushed to the Elks Club on Kalakaua Avenue at about 8:30 a.m., after someone spotted a smoking cannister by the water.

Teru Yasuda, an Elks Club employee, grabbed his camera and took a photo before police evacuated the area. He says you could see vapors rising from the object.

Club-goers waited outside, as investigators tried to figure out what the mysterious item was. Yasuda says he wasn't worried.

"It looks like a, like acetylene torch tank, but little smaller," he said. "It doesn't look, look like a bomb, I mean, you know."

Authorities removed the device from the rocks. The Army says it's a marine location marker that puts out red smoke during search and rescue missions, and that the vapors should not affect anyone.

The Department of Defense is investigating how the marker wound up there.